Domain Whois as a Citation

I have a question regarding domain whois information as a citation. Has anyone heard of this being a factor in the Google search algorithm? To me, it would seem to be a logical calculation when considering the overall trust factor regarding a business domain and consistent, accurate, NAP information. Would using a privacy service be counterproductive in distributing the citation, should it be considered a factor? I've read only anecdotal comments and I understand that not much can ever be assumed as fact when it comes to the internal workings of Penguin, but it would seem to me that a business should be encouraged to reveal their contact information and not hide it. If anyone has any insight into this, it would be great to hear from you!

Re: Domain Whois as a Citation

I guess it would be counted as a citation certainly once the whois sites start showing details.

However it would be more important for trust as you say. In the Google search quality raters guidelines they do talk a lot about being able to identify the business legitimacy especially in Your money or your Life business types.

And although Google did not say they used whois to identify webspam and networks, one of the largest link networks operators came out after being slammed by Penguin saying that he believed they used whois, because the portion of his old network that had whois displayed was the one affected.

Overall, I don't think its a major thing in terms of a "citation" BUT when it comes to trust it is certainly a big thing.

When I have someone that their business page was suspended and I can't quite be sure if they are legit, the whois result is my deciding factor and how i escalate the issue.

Tim Capper, Google My Business Top ContributorWas my response helpful? If yes, please mark it as the ‘Best Answer.’ Learn how here.

Re: Domain Whois as a Citation

Thank you Tim!I can always count on you for great answers and brilliant insight. It does make sense and it might be a small piece of the overall puzzle, but it's a piece closer to the completing the picture! I'm going to leave this open for a bit, just to see if anyone else has much to say. If no one else does, I'll mark this off as a solution sir. Thank you again!

Re: Domain Whois as a Citation

I think you are spot on in using the word "puzzle" especially with hummingbird and rankbrain and semantic web in general ... all the pieces need to fit together for Google to understand the business as a whole.

Tim Capper, Google My Business Top ContributorWas my response helpful? If yes, please mark it as the ‘Best Answer.’ Learn how here.